TNG:TCF- Stowaway
by CharlieGreene
Summary: While trying to hide from her grandfather, Charlotte switches places with one of her friends and end up on an away mission. But this little trip will throw her into more than she bargained for, and may change her for the rest of her life. And when she gets back, will she choose to stay or go?
1. Chapter 1

**I own Charlotte Hope and Elissa Manu, but nothing else. Plz r/r.**

* * *

One morning, Charlotte walked into sickbay and saw one of her friends, Ensign Manu, sitting on a bed.

"Elissa, why are you here?" she asked, frowning, "I thought you told me you were going on an away mission today?"

"Ensign Manu is recovering from Bolian Flu," said Dr Crusher, walking in with a hypospray. Emptying it into Elissa's neck, she helped the girl down from the bed. "Now, there's no way you can go on that mission. You need to rest."

"Yes, Doctor." Elissa sighed and started towards the door.

Charlotte handed Dr Crusher a PADD. "Nurse Colby forgot to give you this before she left."

"Thanks, Charlotte."

Charlotte nodded and looked around nervously. "Computer, locate Lieutenant Johnson."

"Lieutenant Johnson is on deck ten, forward."

"Good."

"Granddad after you?" Crusher asked sympathetically.

"Yes. I don't know how long I can avoid him, though." Suddenly, an idea flashed into her head. "Although, there just might be a way…"

Leaving Dr Crusher, she ran out of sickbay.

"Thrusters, online."

"Where is that girl?" Geordie looked at Data, frustrated. "She's not usually late."

The shuttle doors opens, and a girl hurried in and took her place at a console.

"Ensign Manu, you're late." Geordie didn't look at her; he was busy with the readouts on his screen.

"Sorry, sir, it won't happen again."

"It better not. Open shuttlebay doors!"

The giant doors in front opened, revealing star-studded space. The shuttle lifted off the ground and lost no time in leaving the ship.

"The coordinates have been set."

"Warp one."

Once they were in space, Geordie half turned towards the girl. "Now, Ensign, would you mind telling me why…" He paused, staring at her in shock.

"Charlotte?" Data said, slightly surprised.

Charlotte gave a cheeky grin. "Hi, Data. How do I look in uniform?"

"Miss Hope, what are you doing…?" Geordie started angrily, "And where is Ensign Manu?"

"Elissa is recovering from Bolian Flu, and Dr Crusher told her that she should rest. So I'm taking her place."

"You?" Geordie shook his head and turned back to his console. "Oh, no you're not. I'm taking you right back-"

Data stopped his friend. "Geordie, she is able to pilot a vessel."

"Yeah, but-"

"Oh, c'mon Commander! We're only going to be sampling gas! How hard can it be? As Data says, I am able to operate a vessel. Please?"

Geordie sighed and raised his hands in mock surrender. "All right, all right. You can stay… for now."

"Thanks." Charlotte checked her console. "The collector is online."

Geordie checked his. "Approaching the cloud. Open injectors."

"Open."

"Fill the collectors to their capacity."

"I am reading an energy signature on the other side of the cloud." Data studied his screen. "It could be a ship, but I cannot identify it."

"The gasses must be interfering with our scans." Geordie pressed a few buttons. "Attempting to compensate."

"Collectors filled to capacity," Charlotte called.

"Commander, the ship is powering-"

Too late. The shuttle was rocked violently as the ship fired on it, and there was the sound of power going down.

"Shields are down!"

"Re-route power-"

Another hit. Charlotte clung to her console and gasped as the ship appeared on screen.

"That one took out our weapons. One more hit-"

The air was filled with shimmering light, and Charlotte watched her console dissolve into darkness…


	2. Chapter 2

She awoke on a bed, her hands and feet restrained. To her horror, there was a tube in her arm, filled with a clear liquid. On a tray next to her was a syringe.

Footsteps sounded. She turned her head to see a humanoid with red skin approaching.

"You!" she gasped, trying to pull away.

The alien looked at her, confused. "Have we met before?'

"Charlotte Hope, from the USS Enterprise. Remember me?"

Realisation crossed his face. "It's you!"

"No phaser this time, unfortunately for me."

"But fortunate for me." He eyed her, slightly amused. "Pulling at those straps won't get you anywhere."

"No harm in trying."

"No," he agreed. He picked up the syringe.

"Keep that thing away from me!" Charlotte cried, pulling harder.

"Stop pulling," the alien said gently, "It will only make this harder. It will hurt if your muscles are tensed up."

Charlotte sighed and submitted. She winced as he plunged the needle into her, and eyed him, feeling scared. "Why are you doing this? What is that stuff?"

"This is a science and research vessel. Our race is usually ignored, so we must find out about other species my means of our own."

"You kidnap other species and turn us into lab rats?"

"In a manner of speaking."

"That's disgusting." Charlotte watched as he pulled the needle out of her arm. "What did you inject me with? When will you let me go?"

"A solution that will bring out any hidden genetic traits. And I cannot let you go just yet; I have much more research to do on you."

"I don't understand. I'm a simple human being. Haven't you ever seen one of us before?"

"Yes, but you are not just-" Suddenly, a klaxon sounded, and lights began to flash. The alien looked at her. "Don't go anywhere."

Charlotte snorted. "It's not like I have a choice."

As he hurried away, she once again began to pull at her restraints, all the time knowing it was useless to do so. As she did, she wondered what was going to happen to her. '_But you are not just…'_ How was that sentence going to end? What did he know about her that she didn't even know about herself?

"Struggling isn't going to get you anywhere- unless you're as strong as Data!"

Charlotte gasped. "Geordie?"

"Don't worry, we're here." Geordie and Data appeared on either side of her and quickly started pulling off the straps. "We distracted them by setting off an alarm."

"We have found where they are holding our shuttle; it is not far from here."

Geordie carefully extracted the tube from her arm and helped her up. "Let's go."

They hurried down a dark corridor to an open door. Inside was a small shuttlebay, and resting near the doors that separated them from space was their shuttle.

Data and Charlotte got inside and Geordie ran to the console to the side of the bay. "Opening shuttlebay doors."

Suddenly, the air was filled with shouts and phaser fire. "Stop them! The subjects must not escape!"

As the doors began to open, Geordie ran to the shuttle under the cover of Charlotte's own phaser. Once inside, they flew out the doors and circled the ship. Charlotte targeted their weapons, remembering the last battle. With one hit, the alien's ship's weapons were disabled, and Data quickly warped them out.

The three of them relaxed when they realised they weren't being followed. Charlotte surrendered the comm to Geordie and took her station at the other console, but it only took her a few minutes to realise something was wrong. "Lieutenant, my console is about to-"

There was a flash of blinding light and she was hurled out of her chair as sparks flew everywhere. Geordie immediately ran to the console to find out what happened while Data helped her up. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine… I think." Charlotte pressed a hand to her head. "I just feel a little strange, but I'll be fine."

"Your console overloaded… it seems whoever it was who abducted us was tinkering around in here before the alarm sounded. They must have caused some sort of power surge. It'll be alright now." Geordie helped her into her seat. "You sure you're ok?"

"Yes, yes." She waved him away. "It's nothing to worry about- I just got a bit of a shock."

"Alright." They went back to their seats, and Charlotte wondered why she was feeling like something important had happened. It was the shock, she decided. The shock had disoriented her. She was perfectly fine…


	3. Chapter 3

It was Data who suggested that Geordie and Charlotte see Dr Crusher for a full check-up when they got back- who knew what they had picked up on that alien ship?

"There's nothing wrong with you, Geordie, but you might want to rest for a while. The sedative they used on you could have side effects. As for you, Charlotte…" Beverly studied the test results, unable to understand what she was seeing. "You'll never believe this, but your body seems to have been slowed down somehow. Your vital functions are working perfectly, but something's been changed… No, not changed, it's more like… something's been activated…"

"The alien scientist injected me with a substance that he said would bring out 'hidden genetic traits'." Charlotte sat up, peering at Bev's tricorder. "Can you tell exactly what's happened to me?"

"You've stopped aging." Bev shook her head in wonder. "I don't know of any alien races that don't age, yet here it is. Your body has simply stopped aging." She closed the tricorder and studied the girl seriously. "If this truly is in your genes, you may be something we've never come across before."

Charlotte gaped at her. "But I'm human! All my check-ups, every scan, they showed I was human! Papa is human, my parents were human, all my relatives were human… Doctor, it simply isn't possible."

"Impossible is a word we all try to avoid. I think you should be prepared for the fact that you may not be as human as you think."

Charlotte sighed. "Is there anything else?"

"No- at least, I don't think so. I'm going to cross-reference these results with the medical computer to see if there's ever been anything like this recorded before. In the meantime, you can go."

"Thank you, doctor." Charlotte slid off the bed and made for the door.

"And Charlotte?"

She turned.

"No more crazy adventures for a while, okay?"

Charlotte smiled sadly. "I don't think I'm going to be able to. I'll be leaving soon."

Bev smiled back. "Well, try to stay out of trouble, anyhow."

"I'll try." The door opened and Charlotte walked out, almost colliding with Data. "Oh, have you been waiting for me?"

"Yes." The android looked at her seriously. "Captain Picard wishes to speak with you."

"Oh dear." Charlotte sighed. "Well, I better go face the music."

In the captain's ready-room, Charlotte stood facing Picard, wondering whether he was going to punish her.

"Miss Hope," he started, a twinkle in his eye, "You grandfather has been looking for you."

Charlotte stared at him. This wasn't what she was expecting, nor what she was looking forward to.

"I understand that he is retiring from Starfleet, and that he wants you to go with him. Could this be the reason for your mysterious disappearance this morning?"

"Yes. I was looking for somewhere to hide, and Elissa… Ensign Manu's condition gave me the perfect hiding place- space."

Picard nodded. "How was your first away mission?"

"Besides being abducted by aliens, pretty uneventful."

His expression sobered. "We are conduction an investigation of this sector, looking for our alien friends. I hope to bring them to justice for violating your rights and those of our officers."

"Captain, don't judge them too harshly. Because they go unnoticed by other races, they look for other ways to find out about outsiders. None of us were hurt."

"Well, we'll at least try to talk to them, find out their capabilities. Hopefully, we'll be able to-"

"Johnson to Captain Picard. Sorry for interrupting, Captain. Are you busy?"

"Not at all Lieutenant. And I think I found something that belongs to you."

A moment later, the doors opened and Charlotte's grandfather walked in.

"Charlotte! I've been looking all over the ship for you! Where have you been?"

"On an away mission, papa." Seeing his surprise, she smiled. "Think of it as work experience."

He hugged her. "Good, good. Now, have you finished packing?"

Her face fell. "Almost."

"Well, you better go finish. We're leaving at 1300 hours."

"Yes, papa." With a last, sad look at Picard, she left the room.

On the Bridge, she looked around at everyone at their stations and silently bid them all goodbye. Only Deanna and Data looked up; Deanna to smile and wave, Data to ask her what was happening. But she left before he had uttered a word, convinced that if she stayed much longer, she would start to cry.

And so it was that when she walked into the transporter room at 1300 hours, she was amazed to find that the whole senior crew had turned out to bid her goodbye. Touched, she hugged each one of them in turn, including Worf, whom, 3 years ago, she would not have even approached. The Klingon bore the unexpected affection with uncomfortable dignity.

Deanna, Riker, Bev, Geordie, Wes. Each of them received a hug, and each of them smiled at the girl who managed to befriend the whole bridge.

She had saved Data for last. When she finally came to him, the android studied her face, puzzled. "Why are you crying?"

Charlotte smiled through her tears, and gave him an extra squeeze. "I'm really going to miss you, Data," she whispered.

"And I believe… I will miss you too," he replied softly, and at that moment, Charlotte saw something like fondness in his golden eyes. With a laugh that was more like a sob, she stepped up onto the transporter.

"Don't you forget me, now," she said, glancing over the rest of the crew before looking at Data again. "I will be back."

Beside her, grandfather nodded to Chief O'Brian. "Energise."

Charlotte held Data's gaze as everything started to shimmer and disappear. Just as it all faded, she whispered into the air: "Farewell."

And as the senior crew of the _Enterprise_ left the transporter room, Data fancied that he heard her voice, thin and whispery, as if carried on the wind.

"Farewell."

* * *

**A/N- Just a little note- this story takes place near the end of Season 3; so this is the end of a 3 year block of stories. The next story will take place 12 years after this. Just thought you should know :)**


End file.
